


Old Sparky

by askstevebuckyfics



Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bucky Barnes-centric, Flashbacks, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Poor Bucky Barnes, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Prison, Protective Steve Rogers, Trials, We're just going to pretend the death penalty still exists in the state of New York for angst sake, mentions of various death penalty procedures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-24
Updated: 2015-10-24
Packaged: 2018-04-27 21:15:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5064454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/askstevebuckyfics/pseuds/askstevebuckyfics
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The judge proclaimed his punishment and Bucky only caught one word. Death.<br/>He had been sentenced to die...</p>
<p>New York, 2015, James Buchanan Barnes has his court case for his crimes as the Winter Soldier. He is innocent, a victim of HYDRA's brainwashing, but the court doesn't see this. His crimes were too extreme, and death is the only suitable punishment for someone who has caused so much pain and misery.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Old Sparky

**Author's Note:**

> This work was posted previously on our "ask-stevebucky" tumblr, but we decided to open up a joint AO3 account, so any fics posted there will be put onto this account! 
> 
> See end notes for TWs.

14th August, 1928

“You just booked yourself a one way trip to Sing Sing, mister!”

Bucky laughed as Steve grabbed his arm, while attempting to put on his gruffest voice. Steve always threw himself into character when they played games.

“You’ll stand trial and if found guilty, you’ll be sent to Old Sparky!” Steve continued, as he reached into his pocket for his mother’s scarf, their stand in for handcuffs. Steve wrapped it around Bucky’s wrists, securing them in front of him, and tugged him over to stand in his kitchen.

“From the kitchen table to the counter top is your jail cell. Stay behind the table!”

“Yes, Officer Steve,” Bucky replied, staying where he was, while he watched Steve create the courtroom. Steve moved a kitchen chair into the living room, setting it up in front of the sofa. They loved playing pretend games, it was their favourite thing to do when it was raining outside and they couldn’t go and play on the street or in the park. They loved playing pirates on the high seas, sometimes they were rival Kings who often got into sword fights with sticks they picked up in the park, and they often were also WW1 soldiers. However, their favourite game was cops and robbers.

“Wait, Steeeeeeve, why am I going to Old Sparky?” Bucky suddenly complained.

“You ain’t going there yet, gotta go to trial first!” Steve said, rolling his eyes.

“But I just robbed someone, not done anything that deserves the death penalty!” Bucky grumbled. “I don’t wanna go to Old Sparky!”

Steve dragged another chair into the living room and patted it, “Nobody wants to go to the chair! Now it’s time for your trial.”

More often than not, it was Bucky that went on trial. Bucky was a good bit taller than Steve and definitely a lot stronger than the other. Therefore he always made sure that Steve played the tougher roles. Steve got teased a lot for being weak by horrible boys on the school yard, and he liked pretending to be a tough policeman or prison guard.

Steve walked over and took Bucky’s arm, dragging him out of his ‘cell’ and over to the ‘courtroom’. He gestured for Bucky to sit in the kitchen chair and then took his place on the sofa opposite him.

“Now begins the trial of James Buchanan Barnes. He stole a cookie, this court thinks that he deserves to die!” Steve began dramatically.

Bucky stuck out his tongue at his friend.

“Look at that, ladies and gentlemen of the jury! Look, he is being disrespectful! The state of New York demands the death penalty!” Steve responded.

“Why do you want me to die, Stevie?” Bucky whined, as he pouted at Steve.

“I don’t! Buck! Of course I don’t! We’re just playing pretend!” Steve said quickly, getting up to go stand in front of Bucky. “I was just making this more dramatic! Nobody would ever ever sentence you to death. You’re too good, Bucky. As if you’d ever even get arrested!”

“So are you saying I’m innocent?” Bucky asked. He smiled up at Steve, earning him another eye roll from his best friend.

“The court still needs to decide. Let’s continue your trial. The criminal, James Buchanan Barnes, is before us. He’s a baddie!”

 

29th September, 2015

“Allow us to resume the trial of James Buchanan Barnes,” the Judge’s voice was clear around the courtroom, breaking Bucky out of his thoughts. He had been distracting himself with what little memories he remembered. He couldn’t help but smile at the silly one of him and Steve playing trial. They had been bored ten year olds with overactive imaginations, playing pretend games after seeing trials in movies, and reading about Sing Sing and Old Sparky, the electric chair, in the papers.

Bucky had never expected this to be a reality for him.

Steve had gotten up and said his part obviously. He gave a passionate speech about how Bucky was brainwashed, didn’t know what he was doing, and is completely innocent. Natasha also spoke out about how cruel organisations like HYDRA can really be, and even Clint Barton took the stand to discuss his own experiences under mind control. Still, Bucky felt like his case was very weak. His lawyer had warned him that he would face several years in prison at a minimum, unless someone produced substantial evidence about his time with HYDRA. This…they did not have. It was either destroyed, or went missing, along with the organisation itself.

“Have you reached a verdict?”

Bucky kept his eyes focused on the wall behind the Judge as he listened to them announce “Guilty” to the room.

Guilty.

He had prepared for that, he had been sure that was what was coming, but hearing them say it was awful, worse than he could have ever imagined. He wanted to look around for Steve, find him, hold him, reassure him, but he had to wait for his sentence to be formally announced.

The judge proclaimed his punishment and Bucky only caught one word. Death.

He had been sentenced to die.

He felt surprisingly gentle hands on his upper arm, the flesh one, urging him to stand up. A police officer began to take him out of the courtroom. The crowd exploded behind him. Some people were happy about this verdict, others were protesting. When they reached the door, Bucky eventually snapped out of his dazed state and looked over his shoulder. By some miracle, he instantly found Steve in the crowd and saw his horrified expression.

“I’m sorry,” Bucky mouthed at him.

Steve did not say anything back, just stared at him.

Then the officer slammed the door, cutting Bucky’s view of the courtroom.

 

12th October, 2015

“Where is Steve?” Bucky asked Natasha tiredly.

They were separated by glass and both of them held telephones to their ears. Bucky couldn’t help but look behind Natasha, searching for any sign of his blond best friend and lover.

“Not here.”

“Where is he?”

“I don’t know. None of us do.”

Bucky dropped the phone, and it swung in the air by his thigh, as he buried his head in his hands. After a moment he heard a tapping on the glass. He looked up and saw Natasha firmly point to the phone. He sighed and picked it up, clutching it tightly as he brought it back to his ear.

“He took off after the trial. Left a note for Sam. All it said was ‘Doing what needs to be done. Go see Bucky, tell him I’m sorry and that I promise nothing will happen to him before I get a chance to see him’,” She explained.

“What the fuck does that mean? Where is he? I want Steve to be here!”

“Look, he’ll be here. Probably needs a few weeks to recover, the trial was very hard for him-“

“And it wasn’t for me?” Bucky interrupted.

“No, nobody’s saying it wasn’t hard for you. All I’m saying is…look, Bucky, inmates spend decades on death row. There’s a good chance you’ll die of natural causes before you get executed,” Natasha said, her voice softer than normal.

Bucky took a deep breath, trying to keep himself calm. She was right though. It wasn’t like his childhood, when executions were a lot more common. Even though there were people on death row, his execution probably wouldn’t be scheduled for a long time.

“Well… I guess Steve needs to get his ass back from vacation and come visit me soon,” Bucky said eventually.

“Don’t worry, I’ll kick his ass for you when he gets back.”

 

7th November, 2015

Bucky had stared at his lawyer in horror when she told him the news. Two weeks ago, he had sent in an appeal and it was instantly rejected. Instead, they decided to move up his execution date. The Winter Soldier was dangerous and a high priority inmate. He had to be executed as soon as possible.

Now, it was his last night on earth. They had fucking set the date for the next day. Cruel bastards. Bucky knew he had done many terrible things in his life, but he knew that deep down he was a good person.

Steve thought so. Steve always saw the best in him. Even when Steve was playing the judge, he couldn’t resist breaking character to remind Bucky that he was good.

But Steve wasn’t here.

He had been in here for a month, dreaming every night of being strapped into a chair and electrocuted.

Sometimes Steve appeared, leaning down to press his lips against Bucky’s, kissing him goodbye. Bucky liked those dreams, craved them.

Sometimes Steve was the one to press the button to ignite the sparks, speaking words of condemnation as he did so. Those nights were awful. They were terrifying, and Bucky woke up in a panic, unable to understand why his best friend would punish him like that. Then he would spend the day desperately wishing Steve would show up.

Almost always, Bucky screamed out for Steve in his sleep.

“Where are you?” Bucky whispered.

He sent a quick prayer to god, asking for mercy, asking for a dreamless sleep. Or, of course, if god was feeling kind, to let him dream of his Brooklyn childhood and his best friend.

“Please be there tomorrow. I want to say goodbye.”

 

8th November, 2015

The last day was quick. Bucky had expected it to drag slowly, but before he knew it, he was taken from his cell to the execution room. By the time they got to the doors, Bucky found he was shaking. It was horrible. He would be dead soon. Strapped down and electrocuted. What a way to go. He had always expected to die in combat, like so many of his comrades in the war, and to be fair, he would have if it hadn’t been for HYDRA. Fucking HYDRA. If only they hadn’t disappeared quite so easily. Then there would have been more evidence for his –the Winter Soldier’s-brainwashing.

The prison guard opened the door and revealed a clinical looking room, with a white bed in the middle. There were many straps attached to it.

“Where’s the chair? Old Sparky?” Bucky asked hesitantly.

The guard looked surprised.

“You mean they didn’t tell you? We don’t use that anymore. It’s too inhumane,” He said with a shrug.

Maybe someone had mentioned it to Bucky, maybe they said it during court and he had tuned it out. Or he could have misheard his lawyer.

“Yeah, gotta be kind to the person about to be executed,” Bucky said sarcastically, though his voice cracked. Tears filled his eyes and he shook his head. He was relieved. The chair would have been unbearable. He would have taken being hanged over Old Sparky, honestly, but he had resigned himself to it.

“Okay, Mr. Barnes, up you get.”

He was helped up onto the gurney and the doctor began to strap him in. Bucky closed his eyes and tried his best to keep his breathing as even as possible. He couldn’t help but think of that note Steve left Sam. Steve had promised he would see Bucky before he died and he was breaking that goddamn promise.

Once all the straps were secure on him, the doctor began to swab his arms with alcohol. He had to prepare for the needles of the IVs that would pierce his skin in a few minutes.

“Just do this as quickly as possible please. I don’t think I can stand much more of this,” Bucky said, thinking of everything he had done in his life to get to this moment. All the fuck ups, all the pain he had caused. Then… he began to think of Steve.

His Steve.

Steve’s smile, Steve’s laugh, playing stupid games with Steve as children, kissing Steve for practice when they were teens, saying goodbye when he shipped off to war, getting his ass saved by him.

He decided to keep Steve in his thoughts, until it all faded to black. Steve would keep him stable. Ever since they had broken the brainwashing, Steve had been his comfort and safety. Upon his arrest, Steve had always been there, both physically and in his mind, to make sure he was okay. It was just unfortunate that Steve couldn’t be there for his last few weeks.

The doctor got the first needle prepared and lined it up. Bucky closed his eyes.

“Sir, you can’t go in there! It’s a restricted area. I’ll do it, I’ll stop it-”

“Do I look like I give a damn?”

“Please, stop!”

The doors burst open.

“Bucky? Bucky!”

Bucky opened his eyes and lifted his head best he could, “Steve?”

“Unstrap him right this second, I have an injunction, orders from-” Steve shoved the papers at the doctor and officer, “Better yet, I’ll do it. You read.”

He rushed over to the gurney and started to undo all the straps on the bed, starting with the one across Bucky’s chest.

“I worked as fast as I could, I knew I wouldn’t have much time,” Steve said, “Knew I’d need to track down any remaining factions of HYDRA.”

“What are you saying? What’s happening?” Bucky whispered.

“Got the bastards. Got files. Got as much information on you as possible. Captured people, anyone that could testify. I got the verdict overturned.”

Bucky stared at Steve, as he worked to undo the straps on his feet. Then he slowly sat up straight.

“You’re not guilty. You’ve been given a full pardon, you’re coming home with me now.”

Bucky trembled and reached for Steve, his hands still locked in the reinforced cuffs. Steve sat down on the gurney beside him and pulled him into a tight hug, his hands clutching at Bucky’s back, “I’m sorry.”

“D-Don’t…you have nothing-” Bucky cut off, and buried his head in the crook of Steve’s neck. “I’m safe?”

“You’re safe,” Steve whispered.

Bucky felt a hand in his hair, stroking it gently, and he swallowed the lump in his throat. A few seconds later, he let out a sob, then bit his lip, trying to keep his emotions under control.

“You’re safe,” He heard Steve repeat, his voice rougher than normal.

“Let’s get these cuffs off of you,” Steve eventually said.

Bucky pulled out of the hug and met his best friend’s gaze. Steve’s eyes were red, and he had fresh tear tracks rolling down his cheeks. Steve’s chest was rising and falling noticeably, and Bucky knew Steve was trying hard to control his breathing and not just break down on the spot.

A guard approached with the keys and unlocked Bucky’s wrists quickly. “You’re free to go, I guess. It’s all here in the paperwork.”

Bucky nodded mutely and let Steve guide him out of the execution room. They almost made it back up the dreaded ‘Last Mile’ corridor, when Bucky clamped his hand over his mouth and let out a horrific noise, as the reality of the situation came crashing down. He sank to the ground and Steve soon followed. Bucky wrapped his arms around Steve’s waist and they simply held each other, ignoring the shouts for them to leave the vicinity. Steve’s lips were in his hair, on his forehead, his cheek, and eventually Bucky pulled him in for a firm, desperate kiss.

“I thought I’d never see you again. I thought…”

“I couldn’t waste any time. I’m so sorry.”

“I know, I know.”

“Steve, you’re really here. You’re here,” Bucky panted, pressing his forehead against Steve’s, staring into his eyes. “You’re here with me. You got me out.”

“Of course I did, Bucky,” Steve replied. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Bucky said, his voice barely above a whisper.

“Let’s go home,” Steve stood up and helped Bucky to his feet. “Get out of this god awful place.”

Bucky nodded again and wrapped his arm around Steve’s waist, to steady himself.

“Thank you,” He mumbled.

“You’re innocent. You, James Buchanan Barnes, are innocent.”

**Author's Note:**

> The trigger warnings I've created for this fanfic are as follows:
> 
> Major TW for discussion of death penalty all throughout the fic. 
> 
> TW for discussion of electrocution. The fic is named after the electric chair and it is referenced multiple times. 
> 
> TW for medical setting/apparatus (iv, needles, hospital gurney, etc.) Bucky discovers he will not be sent to the electric chair and instead given the lethal injection. Nothing is too graphic.
> 
> TW for trauma, panic, etc. Bucky is facing death, he is going through a traumatic ordeal, his thoughts are all over the place.
> 
> No character death. Steve stops the sentence from being carried out.


End file.
